1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cotton gin apparatus and a methods of ginning. More specifically, the invention relates to a linear gin and method in which seed cotton is moved in a linear direction on a moving belt past a stationary knife blade which creates a pinch point between the belt and knife blade by which the lint is pinched off the seed. The removed lint is then conveyed off the belt with suction air. Thus, the belt and knife do the ginning, the suction air plays no part in the ginning (lint from seed separation) but only serves to convey lint after the separation has occurred.
2. Related Art
The history of cotton ginning is replete with a wide variety of devices proposed for separating the cotton fiber from the seed. Many of the prior art devices were provided in an effort to meet the special characteristics of various types of cotton such as upland cotton and long staple or sea island cotton.
The two main types of gins that have been employed are the saw gin which has been primarily used for separating the fuzzy seed from upland cotton and the roller gin which has been primarily used for separating the long staple or black seed cotton seed from the longer fiber such as sea island or Egyptian cotton. The saw gin has not been acceptable for ginning longer staple cotton because of the fact that it breaks and tangles the fiber so as to result in a shorter staple product which is generally less valuable than the longer staple fiber. Thus, it has evolved that almost all of the long staple cotton has been ginned with roller gins whereas the upland cotton has been ginned with saw gins.
Many of the earlier roller gins employed a stationary doctor knife and a cooperating reciprocating blade to strip the seeds from the fibers as the fibers were moved past the doctor knife by the ginning roller. A particular disadvantage of the foregoing construction was that the fibers were produced in a somewhat intermittent manner due to the reciprocating operation of the blade which would interrupt flow of cotton to the ginning roller and consequently reduce the production rate of the gin.
Many efforts have been made to improve the roller gin with respect to the rate of fiber production so as to reduce the cost of ginning black seed cotton while retaining the advantageous characteristics of the roller gin in producing fibers that are not entangled or broken. The foregoing efforts led to the construction of roller gins having a ginning roller turning adjacent a stationary knife so that the fibers are drawn under the knife while the seeds are retained by the knife to effect separation of the fibers from the seed. Unfortunately, many of the prior art devices employing the foregoing technique were not successful due to a considerable amount of seed cracking that resulted from their operation.
Vandergriff U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,043 is an example of a roller gin employing a ginning roller 36 having a friction surface of cover 38 made of leather or rubber-like material to which cotton fibers adhere for conveyance into contact with a stationary ginning knife 40. A square rotobar blade assembly 42 is rotated upstream of the knife assembly as shown in FIG. 6A of the patent. The construction of the Vandergriff patent is complex and, while representing an improvement over many of the prior known ginning devices, was expensive to construct and maintain and did not provide a full or complete solution to the prior known shortcomings of roller gins.
Barber U.S. Pat. No. 619,116 discloses a cotton gin employing a moveable belt 14 having a series of rigid plates 15 attached to its outer periphery for gripping and conveying cotton passed a stationary blade 28. A plurality of rapidly moving pivotally mounted fingers 26 and 27 separate the seed from the cotton. A blower removes the cotton from the belt in the area of rollers 12 or 13. This complicated construction has not achieved any substantial acceptance in the industry.
Berrman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,904 discloses a complicated gin employing a high speed rotor 12, brushes 14F and a handling system by means of which the cotton fibers are separated from the seed.
Therefore, it is the primary object of the subject invention to provide a new and improved gin.
A further object of the subject invention is the provision of a new and improved gin of simple, reliable and economical construction.